Another Pi Zero W question

Get Help
1

I would like to add the ability to remotely control and monitor (web cam) my Prusa i3 Mk3S, and I very much like the tight, clean intergration they offer with the Pi Zero W. I'm also aware that it really can't do printing and a web cam together due to lack of processor power.

Would a Pi Zero W have enough power to do remote monitoring and perhaps a time lapse if I kept my prints on the SD card and used Octoprint simply to start a print from the SD card? My real goal is to be able to check in on the printer from work and shut it down if the print fails.

Thanks,
-Windscreen

2

Pick one:

  • Clean integration
  • Working solution

I don't think I would use a Pi Zero for OctoPrint unless maybe it was with the virtual printer and I was in the Mojave Desert trying to code a plugin for this development rig in the back of a VW Minibus.

But if I wanted to print 3D parts then I wouldn't risk everything on a one-core computer with half the RAM just because the Prusa guy thought it "looked clean".

3

That is how I ran one of my older setups.
Pi zero w, pi camera, USB to printer. Control prints from SD card. Time lapse in pi zero w.

Time lapse generation took...a while. But it did work.
If you wanted to offload even more from the pi CPU, get an ip camera. You can still use it with octoprint.

This all being said, I still suggest a pi2 or higher. But it most certainly can be done with a zero w.

4

Personally, I value my own time. There's another guy on here with an older Pi 2 and he's pulling his hair out over the wifi dongle dropping the connection every other hour.